I have been resisting the urge to write about politics on this site because I want to be welcoming to all. Today, I will share why I have attended two protests this year and plan to keep it up.
I think it is best for me to start with my feelings about my nation, the United States. I love the US because I was born and lived my whole life here. My grandparents and my parents were born and lived here too. The state of Ohio and the local government funded my public education which prepared me for college. I went to college with the help of a Pell Grant and college work study. I saw myself as an independent rather than a Republican or Democrat. When Obama was president, I was helped by Obamacare or the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Due to the times of my life that my government helped me, I was thankful for what the USA did for me. I was proud of the generosity of my government/nation towards people in need in the US and in other countries. I learned about the Peace Corps and dreamed of joining it as a way to experience adventure and help others. Due to my depression, I never managed to become a doctor or missionary. Yet, my depression and childhood also gave me a strong sense of empathy towards the struggles of others. President Kennedy started the Peace Corps and said, “Ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country.” I never worried about who was President. I would vote and trust that whoever won would do the job to the best of his ability.
When Trump became president in 2016, I was worried about how things were going to go. I tried to live with it but I saw Trump angering our allies and separating families. This was my first time protesting. In fairness to my Republican friends, Obama started the separation policy due to a difference in the length of time a minor can be detained as compared to an adult. But, Trump expanded it by choosing to prosecute everyone for illegally crossing the border. It was a tiny protest by the Waukesha library and Cutler Park.
My next two protests were Black Lives Matter in Waukesha. I have always believed in a color blind society as the ideal until I started seeing videos of blacks being mistreated and/or killed by cops. The videos and books helped me to see that our gut instincts are a blend of intuition and our society’s hang ups. I try to find any racist thinking in my thoughts but I suspect that I still have some unconscious racist beliefs. This is why I feel that we need to focus on helping whoever is being mistreated in our society. When I was participating in Black Lives Matter protests, the phrase ” justice for all” was playing in my head. I used to recite the pledge of allegiance in the mornings at school. Then, they slowly removed it from my schooling. It was my belief then and now that a just society protects the rights of each and every person in that society regardless of race. Now, I add immigration status to the list.
I will end this post with a quote from The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus. This poem is on the Statue of Liberty which was given to the United States by France. I learned about this poem in elementary school.
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
